Kerry's green machine
By Henry Lamb
web posted February 23, 2004
The League of Conservation Voters has launched a vigorous
campaign to get John Kerry elected President. And why
wouldn't they? As a Senator, Kerry votes for the League's
position 96 per cent of the time. More importantly, John's wife,
Teresa F. Heinz Kerry, directs the distribution of grants from
three Heinz foundations with combined assets worth more than
$1.5 billion.
The Heinz foundations provide substantial funding for the
League, and for several of the organizations whose directors are
also members of the board of the LCV.
In recent years, the Heinz foundations have given $57,300
directly to the LCV. LCV board members who have also
benefitted from Kerry's wife include:
Natural Resources Defense Council - John Adams (LCV
Board) received $56,000;
Wilderness Society - William Meadows III (LCV Board)
received $106,350;
Environmental Defense - Fred Krupp (LCV Board) received
$601,000;
West Harlem Environmental Action - Peggy Shepard (LCV
Board) received $250,000.
Ron Arnold's Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise has
developed a very thorough record of Kerry's wife's involvement
in green politics.
The League has a lot at stake in this election. The last Democrat
in the White House appointed Bruce Babbitt, then head of the
League of Conservation Voters, to be the Secretary of Interior.
Should Kerry reclaim the White House, the League will expect,
and undoubtedly get, similar influence in the Kerry
administration.
The League's Kerry campaign includes television ads aired in
primary states, as well as telephone banks, and "mobilizing
scores of volunteers for visibility efforts." These campaign efforts
appear to ignore new rules issued by the Internal Revenue
Service, and the Federal Election Commission that restrict the
political activity of not-for-profit organizations.
IRS Ruling 2004-6, says that not-for-profit organizations "have
to be very careful that they don't cross the line into speech that is
"directly related to and support[s] the process of influencing or
attempting to influence the selection, nomination, election, or
appointment of any individual to public office or office in a
political organization."
According to the new rule, the criteria for identifying such
forbidden speech "include, but are not limited to":
a) The communication identifies a candidate for public office;
b) The timing of the communication coincides with an electoral
campaign;
c) The communication targets voters in a particular election,
Perhaps the League of Conservation Voters considers itself
above these rules, or perhaps the League is betting that the
confusion over the new rules will not be resolved before they get
their candidate elected.
The League, and its gaggle of green organizations will not have to
worry about money. John Kerry's wife has plenty, and with her
influence over her family's and other well-heeled foundations, she
can pretty well guarantee that the green army will mobilize behind
her husband.
This green money flow, however, is somehow different from the
"special interest" money that Kerry has vowed to eliminate in
Washington. It is quite likely that Kerry – like Clinton-Gore –
would fill his cabinet with people from these same "special
interest" groups. Democrats continually chastize Bush for filling
his cabinet with "corporate special interests," but applauded
Clinton-Gore for doing the same thing. This is simply politics,
regardless of the party.
At the end of the day, politics reflect a philosophy. Kerry's
philosophy, as well as his wife's, is very clear; both have
supported issues and causes that are at best, socialist, and at
worst, anti-American. In 1970, Kerry told the Harvard Crimson:
"I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed
through the world only at the directive of the United Nations."
Though less direct, his current campaign speeches carry the
same message.
Kerry's wife's foundations provided $4.3 million to the Tides
Foundation, a "portal" operation through which money flows to a
variety of leftist groups, including Ramsey Clark's International
Action Center, which is the force behind International
ANSWER, which sponsored the major antiwar (and anti-Bush)
rallies before the invasion of Iraq. When ANSWER was outed
as a Communist organization, United for Peace and Justice,
headed by longtime Communist Party member Leslie Cagan was
created as a "moderate" alternative.
A Kerry presidency, like Clinton's, would be a "twofer." You get
two for the price of one - Bill and Hillary; John and Teresa.
Neither make any apologies for their support of projects and
causes that are blatantly socialist – or worse. If America is ready
to abandon its founding principles and move into the global
socialist community, then John and Teresa are ready to lead the
way.
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental
Conservation Organization (ECO), and chairman of Sovereignty
International.
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